clatter

American  

[klat-er] / ˈklæt ər /

verb (used without object)

1. to make a loud, rattling sound, as that produced by hard objects striking rapidly one against the other.

   The shutters clattered in the wind.

2. to move rapidly with such a sound.

   The iron-wheeled cart clattered down the street.

3. to talk fast and noisily; chatter.

   They clattered on and on about their children.

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verb (used with object)

1. to cause to clatter.

   clattering the pots and pans in the sink.

noun

1. a rattling noise or series of rattling noises.

   The stagecoach made a terrible clatter going over the wooden bridge.

2. noisy disturbance; din; racket.

3. noisy talk; din of voices.

   They had to shout over the clatter at the cocktail party.

4. idle talk; gossip.

clatter British  

/ ˈklætə /

verb

1. to make or cause to make a rattling noise, esp as a result of movement

2. (intr) to chatter

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noun

1. a rattling sound or noise

2. a noisy commotion, such as one caused by loud chatter

Other Word Forms

• clatterer noun
• clatteringly adverb
• clattery adjective

Etymology

Origin of clatter

before 1050; Middle English clateren, Old English clatr- (in clatrunge ); cognate with Dutch klateren to rattle; -er ⁶

Example Sentences

At Encirc's Elton factory, where bottles clatter along the conveyor belts to be filled and labelled, executives say energy prices are inseparable from the push to decarbonise.

From Barron's

Saka's ability to take contact from defenders that clatter into the back of him is something he has mastered in the safer environment of the right wing and is invaluable centrally.

From BBC

The United Press International and Associated Press teletypes clattered away in a corner of the Columbus Citizen-Journal’s newsroom where I worked as a reporter in the 1970s.

From The Wall Street Journal

Busy markets sold butchered meats and fast-wilting vegetables, horse carts clattered, children shouted, and men and women gossiped in coffeehouses and read from printed newspapers.

From The Wall Street Journal

Dishes clatter, steam bursts from large cooking pots and music is seeping through the bustling chatter of Russian pensioners, hunched over bowls of free meals in a Saint Petersburg soup kitchen.

From Barron's

Related Words

• clang
• hurtle